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Human Factors International to certify an assured level of usability for
software and apps

Human Factors International (HFI), a usability and design organisation, is
offering to certify enterprises for the ability to create usable products,
software and applications.

The company said that it had extended its
Certified
Practice in Usability programme to allow a wider range of firms to benefit
from its assessments and gain accreditation for their designs.

"It is time that purchasers can be assured that they will not be tortured
with technology. They should be able to buy with an assured level of usability,
" said HFI chief executive Eric Schaffer.

HFI said that a financial services company, for example, may create
applications for internal or customer consumption, and could ensure that they
meet high standards for usability.

Companies that conform to the HFI guidelines can be certified on a number of
levels, and be confident of designing user-friendly products, the firm said.

"Certification says that you have enough staff in order to routinely do
user-centred design, and you have a culture which expects to do that," said
Schaffer.

"So, they're not saying: 'Oh, we have a design. Should we do user-centred
design?' Rather, they're saying: 'OK, we're doing a design, and we have to do
all those things we normally do to make sure it's usable.'

"We believe that, as the organisation becomes mature, the quality of design
will mature as well."